


"Cause of death: Accidental"

by Steena



Series: Transformers song inspired fics [4]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse of Authority, Abused mechs rising up, Coercion, Crooked Cops, Domestic Violence, Drinking, Drug Dealing, Drug Use, Engex, Hayseed Dixie, Helping abuse victims in unconventional ways, Murder, Poor neighborhood, Sexual Coercion, Songfic, Substance Abuse, Using sex as currency, criminality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 01:38:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14297937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steena/pseuds/Steena
Summary: "Did you wipe the gun?" I asked, hearing the sirens drawing closer."No?""Frag!"I grabbed a cloth from the porch, wiping it down."Wipe the spatter from your frame." I snapped and it got Starscream moving.I wiped the gun and grabbed Megatron's wrist, making sure to smear the piece with his filthy, conjux-beating servo. Just in case anybot bothered to investigate more thoroughly.Megatron is on the engex, regularly smacking his conjux around. Then one night, the Seeker won't have it no more. Who would I be to not help him?It's the worst part of town and everybot is so broken. Crooked cops, booster addiction and violence is just another day in Kaon. Narrated by an unnamed bay-verse Autobot.Inspired by "In the backyard" by Hayseed Dixie. Lyrics in the notes at the beginning.And there's a little contest in the end notes.





	"Cause of death: Accidental"

**Author's Note:**

> Well he's layin' in the back yard (layin' in the back yard)  
> Layin' in the back yard  
> Bullet in his head  
> He's layin' in the back yard (layin' in the back yard)  
> Layin' in the back yard  
> I reckon that he's dead  
> Big Jimmy liked to drink enough whiskey  
> To float a fast boat into town  
> An' when he'd get to drinkin' that way  
> He liked to smack his Suzie around  
> Oh but late last Friday night Lord  
> I guess she couldn't take no more  
> And when the cops came around  
> To investigate the sound  
> She just pointed out the back door  
> She said he's layin' in the back yard (layin' in the back yard)  
> Layin' in the back yard  
> Bullet in his head  
> He's layin' in the back yard (layin' in the back yard)  
> Layin' in the back yard  
> I reckon that he's dead  
> When the police asked her what happened  
> Suzie said she didn't have a clue  
> She said he took his pistol out just to give it a clean  
> And that's all she knew  
> Oh she cried tears that were so sincere  
> Till she was out of breath  
> While the Chief Detective was writin' in his note book  
> “Accidental Death”  
> He said he's layin' in the back yard (layin' in the back yard)  
> Layin' in the back yard  
> Bullet in his head  
> He's layin' in the back yard (layin' in the back yard)  
> Layin' in the back yard  
> I reckon that he's dead  
> Well if you like to smack your woman  
> Better heed these words my son  
> 'Cause there's a whole lotta pretty little women these days  
> Gettin' pretty good with a gun  
> Oh you might think you got 'er under control  
> You just might be surprised  
> When your pretty little woman puts a 45 hole  
> Right between your eyes!  
> And says he's layin' in the back yard (layin' in the back yard)  
> Layin' in the back yard  
> Bullet in his head  
> He's layin' in the back yard (layin' in the back yard)  
> Layin' in the back yard  
> I reckon that he's dead

This went down a long time ago, before the war, long before I got rich and famous starring in a movie on Earth. See, I lived in one of the seediest neighborhoods in Kaon back then. None of us had much, and our street of scraggly cubical homes in run down, unkempt yards was inhabited by an assortment of junkies, whinos, pimps and whores. My neighbors were a couple, y'all know the type, where one should've left the other a  _long_  time ago. Of course he didn't. _They never do_.

Megatron was into engex. A lot of it. The amounts he could get down in an evening was probably enough to fuel a deep space capable shuttle to reach Mars in the Sol system. And when he was done at whatever shithole bar he was in for the night, he'd go home and take his frustrations out on Starscream. Between you and me, I think he was compensating for not getting his spike to pressurize. Mhm, Starscream told me  _that_  humiliating little detail one night when he was hiding out in my kitchen.

Starscream could've been something. You know, mile long legs, sleek wings and a pretty face. Dented, scuffed plating from Megatron's "loving" servos, and faceplates that were going old prematurely from boosters, lack of recharge and too much worry hid that. He wasn't just a pretty face, though. No, Starscream was smart too. Real good processor on that one, wasted on drugs and despair.  _A real pity._

Then one Friday night it was worse than usual. Megatron's bellows could easily be heard across the street, and Starscream... Well, he lived up to his designation. I could hear the crashes of the ongoing wreckage but there was nothing  _I_  could do, thin little raceframe like me wouldn't survive  _that_ intervention. So I did nothing, 'cept readying my medical kit and hope Starscream would be able to limp over when the big aft finally fell into recharge.

But this night, things went differently. The fight died down, but Starscream didn't show up within the normal half hour. Instead, a gunshot rang out, loud even over the hustlin' and bustlin' on the street. Everything went quiet, 'cept one of the neighbors unshot turbohound.  _Fragging mutt would never shut up._

I ran outside, fearing the worst. In the distance, I heard the sirens. Starscream came stumbling out of his hab cube, shellshocked.

"He-he's  _gone_." He stuttered, coming towards me.

"What happened? Are you okay?" I asked, wrapping my arms around him.

He had energon on his arms and chestplates and I wiped it with a rag, just to occupy myself while the Seeker trembled in my arms, sobbing.

"He's deactivated. Megatron is  _offline_."

"What?!"

He didn't answer me, just pulled me into his wrecked home. This fight must've been worse than ever. Both Starscream's frame and the state of what was left of the furniture in the kitchen told a tale of severe violence.

"He's laying in the backyard." Starscream said, pulling me along.

"Laying in the backyard?" I echoed, trying to understand.

"He's got a bullet in his head."

_What?!_

We stopped in front of the massive frame stretched out on his back on the dry, rusty ground. Megatron's optics were offline. It looked like he was recharging.  _But even his dull miner's frame wouldn't be that gray if he was just recharging._  And there was a pool of energon under his helm. The smell of burnt circuitry lay heavy in the air.

"Can't we save him?" Starscream asked numbly.

"I reckon he's dead." I said.

_I could relate to that numbness_.

"Did you wipe the gun?" I asked, hearing the sirens drawing closer.

"No?"

"Frag!"

I grabbed a cloth from the porch, wiping it down.

"Wipe the spatter from your frame." I snapped and it got Starscream moving.

I wiped the gun and grabbed Megatron's wrist, making sure to smear the piece with his filthy, conjux-beating servo.  _Just in case anybot bothered to investigate more thoroughly_.

Looking Starscream over quickly, he wasn't covered in energon anymore, I dragged him out on the front porch.

"I-I didn't plan this! He... I... I thought he was going to _deactivate_  me. Then he went outside and I got so  _angry_..." The Seeker stuttered, shock letting go of him.

"It was an accident. He was cleaning his weapon, drunk as he was, and shot himself."  I told him.

"I... Ah... What?!"

I didn't get to explain further as the enforcers ripped around the corner. The street was empty, except for the two of us and the cops. Most of us tended to keep away from the law.

It was Barricade, to my relief. He was a frequent sight around our street and as crooked as they came, but in the  _right_  way. He came from the same type of upbringing as us, and though he'd doggedly pursued a career and made it out, he still didn't look down on us. No, he saw through his digits with a whole lot of scrap and he never overcharged for his leniency. What's a blowjob in exchange for looking the other way when he caught me with boosters in my subspace? Or a frag for not reporting my illegal engex production?  _He was fun in the berth anyway, so I didn't mind all that much._

The other cop, I  _wasn't_  thrilled to see. _Prowl._  Stickler extraordinaire. If he had his way, we'd all be in jail for all our transgressions and that would probably amount to lifetime charges, if served consecutively at least.

Barricade glared at me, a warning to not do anything to tip his partner off about his _arrangements_  with the local slag.  _Why would I?_

"We got a report on gunshots being fired." Prowl asked, detached as always.

"He's laying in the backyard." Starscream blurted before he started sobbing, everything catching up with him.

"Got a bullet in his helm." I supplied.

"Let's take this inside." Prowl said.

Starscream and I lead the way, stopping in the kitchen and turned back to the enforcers.

"Laying in the backyard?" Prowl asked, writing in his notebook.

Starscream nodded and pointed to the backdoor.

"I reckon he's dead." I said, Starscream shivering in my arms.

"What happened here?" Prowl asked suspiciously.

Barricade wandered around, looking at this and that at the crime scene.

"I don't have a clue! He came home from the bar around midnight and I...ah, I hadn't cleaned up after me so he..." Starscream burst out crying. "He punished me, because I hadn't done what I'm supposed to. And I... I deserved that! He took his gun and said he'd go outside to clean it. Then I heard the shot."

Starscream broke.

"He's gone!" He wailed, invents hitching until his cooling fans were forced to dial up.

Over Prowl's shoulder, I saw him write "accidental death."

I couldn't stop the smirk that momentarily stretched my lips. Barricade didn't miss that, optics narrowing. I shrugged.  _The world would be better off without that piece of smelt, and I would be the first to admit thinking so._

The coroner came to pick up the frame, Prowl following him. Starscream's brother Skywarp came by to take the shaken Seeker to his place. A crowd had gathered by now, every nosey piece of scrap coming out now that they knew they weren't the ones the enforcers were after.

I overheard Blackout, Megatron's 'best friend', a  _real_ bastard, saying something about how Megatron was too lenient, should've taken after Blackout and kept Starscream under better control.  _My big intake just refused to stay shut._

"Listen here,  _Son_. I know you like ta smack that sweet li'l racer of yours aroun', but heed  _these_  words. There's a whole lotta pretty little mechs out there gettin'  _real_ good with a gun. Ya might _think_  ya have Knock Out under control, but then it's just gonna be a nasty surprise when your pretty little punchin' bag blows a hole between your optics."

"Whatever,  _glitch._  Knock Out is well under my thumb. Maybe you just need a ' _Copter_ to teach you a thing or two about what _real_ respect is? Or maybe you're just being glitchy 'cause you ain't gettin' any." He smirked nastily and waggled his glossa in an obscene way.

_Ugh. Figures. Blackout wasn't known for being faithful. But he_ was  _known for smacking the not-so-secret illicit lovers he kept around almost as badly as Knock Out._ I never understood what they saw in him, but he bragged far and wide that they said he was the only mech in town who knew how to fuck.

"I'd rather ride an animalformer!" I yelled back.

He glared and I knew I'd said too much. Blackout wasn't known for taking 'no' for an answer either.  _Better avoid him for a while._

I turned and walked around my hab cubical, leaving the gossiping behind. Tomorrow, it would all be back to normal. This wasn't really that big an event, lots of scrap went down here. I wondered if Starscream would move back in or if he'd leave.

"And you had nothing to do with that..." Barricade's deep voice rose from the dark corner on my backporch where the light was broken.

"Why,  _Officer_. Of course not." I said innocently.

"So if I call  _Prowl_  back, raid your house, we won't find a stash of similar guns?" 

"Now, officer, why would you go and do something like that?" I straddled his lap where he sat on my rickety couch.

"Because it's my job." He said, optics roving my frame.

"But I only have plugged ones. For decoration only. And no ammo." I said, sliding my arms around his neck.

"And you never tell your customers how to remove the plugs."

His servos slid along my thighs from my knees to my hips.

"Of course not,  _Officer_." I hummed, stroking his doorwings.

"And if we investigate further, this won't have a whole lot of similarities to when Tarn had an...  _unfortunate accident_  with a gun after he laid into Drift really bad? Or how about Brawl's untimely deactivation when you'd been in the medbay like a hundred times from 'falling down the stairs'?"

His thumbs brushed my interface panel.

"I just sell the goods. That's legal. And those  _were_  some really nasty stairs."

"And the only sniper around would _never_  teach a bunch of strung out Racers and Seekers how to use a gun he hasn't showed them how to unplug." He summarized.

"Oh, no! That would be irresponsible." I murmured, nipping his neckcables.

"Open up." He tapped my interface plate.

I obeyed.  _Of course I did_. His spike pressurized and I sank down on it immediately.

"I can't find any paragraphs saying that teaching somebot to  _defend_  themselves is illegal. In fact, I condone that. But it's a good thing you don't have any guns in your hab cube." 

"What would your superior Officer say if I told him about this?" I asked.

"I think you should worry more about what the court would say about the circuit breakers you've laced those cy-gars with." He smirked. "Third strike, no?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I bit my lip and concentrated on riding. 

"I won't report it if we share them when we finish."

**Author's Note:**

> Who is the bay-verse Bot narrating? (AU of course, but I dropped a few hints alluding to it.)
> 
> I used a description of some of the residents in the street. What punkrock band uses that line in a song on their latest album and sometimes in their concert-talk? (If you listen to them, it will be obvious.)
> 
> Blackout's character is loosely based on the a character in a movie starring Cate Blanchette. Guess the character, actor or movie.
> 
> Winners will get a short fic (around 300 words, give or take) of reader/bay-verse Cybertronian(s) of your choice. (I can do some bots that are not bay-verse, but I don't dare promise because I can't do them all. Request are free, though. I might decline but that's just because I'm concerned with quality)
> 
> The deadline is Sunday 15 April 2018 0900h cest.


End file.
